FIRST the good news – the legendary Rhumba Club is hosting its 21st birthday party in Perth tomorrow night.

Now the bad – all 2000 tickets for the Ice Factory event, ‘One More Tune’, sold out weeks ago after word spread like a computer virus following a post on the dance club’s Facebook page.

Unsurprisingly the site has almost 3000 members, many of whom were regulars during the club’s formative era, energetically raving all night to trippy acid house and banging Balearic beats.

“It’s crazy, we sold out the 21st night really quickly and didn’t do any marketing at all,” explained Keith Howison, one of the original promoters along with Zammo (Scott) Simpson (41) and Wayne Dunbar (45).

Now 39, Howison lives in Dubai where he works for the Abu Dhabi Government, booking superstar DJs like David Guetta and big name acts such as Madonna, Coldplay and Paul McCartney.

It’s a far cry from Fat Sams nightclub in Dundee where he was a humble barman in 1991 when Dunbar and DJ Zammo relocated the Rhumba after original Perth venue Roxanne’s was torched by arsonists.

“When the club came to Fat Sams I moved from behind the bar to helping with the night – promotions, booking DJs and organising the club decor, stuff like that,” he said.

This was clearly a smart move as he caught the rave culture wave that swept the nation, eventually relocating to London in 2001 where opportunities knocked.

But prior to that he promoted the Rhumba, which did the rounds via residencies in Edinburgh, Arbroath and Brechin before touching down at its “spiritual home”, Perth’s Ice Factory, in about 1995, running once a month.

“Zammo took it to Broughty Ferry for a bit in the early 2000s but in 2007 and 2008 it was back at the Ice Factory for parties and then at Fat Sams again in 2010,” said Howison.

“So this Saturday will be the first party at the Ice Factory for four years and it will probably be our last Rhumba night ever (laughs).

“There had been a lot of chat about it on Facebook last year with everyone asking if we were going to do one more party, so the demand has always been there.”

The Rhumba is now one of the longest running club nights in the UK and pre-dates superclub brands like Ministry of Sound, Cream and Gatecrasher.

Regardless of where and when, diehard clubbers have always fronted up for the Rhumba, and tomorrow night will be no different, with dance fans descending on the Fair City from across Scotland and further afield.

And the fact that the three promoters were able to organise the event from three corners of the globe – Simpson lives in Nottinghamshire and Dunbar in India – is testament to regulars’ loyalty.

Spread over three rooms and an outdoor courtyard at the Shore Road venue, the massive and possibly last ever Rhumba night features almost too many DJs – around 15 – with the top billed, old favourite Dave Seaman.

The 43-year-old English mix master, whose house DJ career started in 1990, is no stranger to being on decks at the Rhumba.

“If any one person has captured the mind, body and spirit of the Rhumba, it undoubtedly has to be Dave Seaman,” said Howison.

“In 21 years he has never failed to deliver perfection for us, every time, and as far as we are concerned, he is without doubt a true Legend.”

Yesterday on the club’s Facebook page, with only two sleeps left to showtime, fans’ excitement and anticipation was palpable, with age or circumstance no barrier.

In one post, mum Jennifer Craighead, said: “Think I'm gonna explode with excitement today – I'm doing my daughter’s head in! She said she knows some people that are going on Saturday night and why are young folk wanting to go to a club that’s full of old people? I replied, ‘cause the young uns need a wee lesson on how it’s done properly. Then I started jumping around – she just shook her head and walked away!”

On the phone from Dubai, Howison laughs at the suggestion that many of his old school party faithful from the early ‘90s will now be nudging the wrong side of 40.

“I guess the average age on Saturday night will be quite high, yeah, at least 40 – I’d just turned 18 myself when it all started,” he said.

“Over the last few years of the club, a younger generation started coming but as it’s the last ever night then there will be a lot of old faces we haven’t seen for some time.”

So had he considered providing a creche and child minding facilities for parental punters?

“We did actually think about that (laughs) – some people are bringing their own kids along who are now old enough to get into a club; now that’s a scary thought,” he said.

“Maybe if we do a reunion party at some point in the future we’ll have people turning up with Zimmer Frames and using OAP bus passes to get there!”

l Entry to the official pre-party gig at That Bar, featuring Rhumba DJs, from 5pm on Saturday is free. See www.therhumbaclub.co.uk